


Normality

by helsinkibaby



Series: Right Beside Me Around Every Turn [16]
Category: The Flying Doctors
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Het Relationship, F/M, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 12:12:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13658736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: After his first day back at work, Tom comes home to find Chris waiting for him.





	Normality

"It's just me, darling." 

They were the words, or something like them, that Tom had first used years ago, rushing into the house he'd been sharing with Gibbo, fresh off a long, too long, conversation with Violet Carnegie, hoping against hope that Chris was still there waiting for him. Hope had been rendered futile that day, but today is a different story as Chris's voice floats down the hallway. "In here," she calls and he follows the sound of her voice, to say nothing of his nose, down to the kitchen where he sees her standing in front of the stove, poking the contents of a steaming saucepan with a knife. 

He can't stop himself from making a beeline for her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, letting his chin rest on the top of her head. He also can't stop himself from quipping, "You know, there's a joke in here someone about coming home and finding the little woman barefoot and pregnant and cooking for me..." 

He lets his voice trail off as she makes a snort that's caught squarely between amusement and disgust. Swatting at his arm with the hand that's not holding the knife, she shifts so that she's leaning back, able to look up at him. "Behave," she tells him in a voice that's probably supposed to be stern but she's smiling up at him and her eyes are dancing. She's relaxed in his arms too and he can't remember the last time he saw her like that, the stresses and strains of caring for her dying father, then the grief of his passing, talking their toll on her over the last few months. 

He doesn't point that out to her. "I thought you liked it when I didn't behave," he counters instead, leaning down and pecking her lips briefly. His fingers dance across her stomach, just over her navel and because he's known her body so well for so long, he can feel the slight swell of her stomach that most other people wouldn't notice. The novelty of it sends a giddy thrill shooting through him. "You ok?" 

Chris's smile doesn't falter as she let hers hand rest over his, though it does dim slightly. Which Tom had been expecting - today was his first day back since their return from Melbourne, while Chris was still off, Geoff having made it very clear that she could take as much time as she needed. Tom had thought that the return to normality might remind Chris of just how much had changed for her and from the way her gaze flits downward, he thinks he was probably right. Not that he expects Chris to admit that, and he's not disappointed. "I'm fine,” she tells him, her voice gentle, understanding almost. "But I'm glad you're home." 

She can't say something like that and not expect to be kissed, he figures, so that's exactly what he does, fits his lips over hers and pulls her close, lets the cares of the world outside fall away. This time, she's the one who pulls back, settles herself against his chest for just a moment before she straightens up, points to the oven. "You can take that out for me," she tells him and he's reaching for the oven gloves before she's finished the sentence. He'd recognised the smell of Nancy Buckley's Coronation Chicken recipe the second he walked in the front door and his stomach growls as he opens the oven door. 

"So," she says as they dish up dinner, "tell me all about your first day back. What's the new pilot like?" 

They'd met Johnno briefly the night they'd returned, neither having had much of a chance to talk to him. "Seems ok," Tom tells her, thinking back on the conversations he'd had that day with the affable pilot. Something David had said sotto voce comes back to him and he grins as he prepares to do something that he once upon a time had said he never had time to do - gossip. "He's got on Nick's bad side though." 

"Nick?" Chris's voice shows her surprise. "Nick Cardacci?" Tom nods but she's still having trouble with the concept. "Does Nick have a bad side?" 

"Apparently he does when it comes to other men showing an interest in Annie," Tom tells her and her eyes widen in sudden realisation. 

"Aaaah." 

"Exactly." 

Chris made a tsk-ing sound with her tongue. "The nerve of him," she says and Tom blinks. He hadn't known she felt quite that strongly about Nick and Annie. "Doesn't he realise that flirting with the nurses is your bad habit?"

Tom's jaw falls open. "I do not-" he begins but he stops abruptly when he sees how she's looking up at him. Her eyes are filled with mirth, her lips twitching as she fights to keep back laughter at his indignation. She's beautiful, he thinks, and, not for the first time in his life, he wonders what he ever did to deserve her. Plus, much as he's loath to admit it, he has been known to employ his charm on the nurses (and Violet Carnegie and the good women of the C.W.A.) to make his life just a little bit easier. "Funny." 

"I thought so." Her hip bumps against his and he chuckles as he shakes his head. 

"It was good to be back," he admits a second later. "But I missed having you around." They hadn't messed around with his roster for his first day back, an all day clinic run having had him out the house early in the morning, back late in the evening. His shifts in Melboune, mostly locum work in GP surgeries had been a good deal shorter; this was the longest they'd been apart in months. 

“I’ll be back soon,” she tells him, just before her hand reaches down, touches her stomach. “For a while at least.” There’s an amazed little smile on her face suddenly, like she can’t believe what she’s saying - this baby had been a surprise, but a very welcome one. She looks at him then, a tilt to her head and a glint in her eyes. “Think you’ll cope without me?” 

Tom doesn’t blink. Instead, he steps into her, slides his arms around her waist. “I’m glad I won’t ever have to.” 

He can tell his serous answer to a flip query takes her by surprise but when he leans down and kisses her, he can feel her smile against his lips. Her hand reaches up to the back of his head, holds him in place and if their dinner is less than warm when they finally get around to sitting down to eat, neither one of them will complain.


End file.
